Campus Information

The Goldstein Youth Village
חוות הנוער הציוני

TRY is based at the Ramah Israel campus, located in the Israel Goldstein Youth Village (Chavat HaNoar HaTzioni, “the Chava”) in the San Simon neighborhood of Jerusalem. The pastoral Chava is a lush, tree-lined campus that is also home to an Israeli boarding school and a high school for French students and includes athletic facilities, a library, an indoor pool and a kosher cafeteria. The Chava is a gated facility with 24/7 security. Adjacent to campus is a shopping plaza which contains a supermarket, a bank/ATM, a kiosk, a money changing facility, a coffee shop, a falafel stand, and a laundromat.

The Goldstein Youth Village was founded in 1949 with the help of the Jewish Agency to absorb children who survive the Holocaust. The village, a residential school, was opened a few months after the establishment of the State of Israel with 40 children who were Holocaust survivors. Today, there are over 400 high school students from Israel and around the world – primarily from Russia, Yugoslavia, Ethiopia, and France – living and studying at the Chava. The opportunity our students have to interact with others from various backgrounds adds an exciting dimension to the TRY experience, and will undoubtedly give new meaning to the concept of the “ingathering” of Jews in Israel.

The Dormitories
מגורים

Life at the Chava bears a strong similarity to dorm life in college, but in a smaller, more secure environment appropriate for high school students. Students on TRY live in one of two dorms, both of which are a short walk to the classrooms, the administration building, and the dining hall. Both dorms are set up similarly, with a number of rooms, a kitchenette area with a communal refrigerator, and a student lounge, and each dorm room is designed for up to four students, who also share a bathroom.

The madrichim (counselors) live in the dorms as well, and they become a regular part of the students’ lives, dispensing advice on everything from upcoming tiyulim and life in Israel to where to find the best burger. Together, the madrichim and students create a “haimish” atmosphere–filling the communal fridge with food and decorating the dorm walls–so that the rooms and dorms truly become the students’ home in Jerusalem for the course of the program.

Sports Facilities
מתקני ספורט

The Chava campus boasts a wealth of sporting facilities which are available for use by students. Students often jog along the campus main path, and have access to a tennis court, an outdoor basketball/soccer court, an indoor basketball court, numerous fields for pickup games of Ultimate Frisbee, football, or soccer, a full gym and weight room, and a half Olympic sized indoor pool.

Students with specific sports requests should speak to the Programming Coordinator prior to arrival in Israel, so that we can work together to keep up a training regimen. In recent years, students have also kept up with serious dance training schedules by using the facilities of the Jerusalem Ballet Studio.

The San Simon Neighborhood
שכונת סן סימון

The Chava is situated in the San Simon neighborhood, which has particular historical significance, being the site of a key battle of the 1948 War of Independence. In 1860 the main feature of this neighborhood was the San Simon (Saint Simon) monastery. With the outbreak of the War of Independence in 1948, David Ben Gurion decided to put effort into building up Jerusalem and San Simon, as a strategic high point, connected many neighborhoods. In April, 1948 the young Israeli state won in the battle of San Simon. Today, Jews from all different backgrounds who are both religious and secular live in San Simon.

Living in the San Simon neighborhood gives students a taste of a typical Jerusalem neighborhood. The neighborhood hosts many synagogues, as well as a small commercial center, comprising a supermarket, a hairdresser, a bakery, a falafel shop, a corner store, a money change shop, and a branch of Bank Leumi.